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Pearl (6×9 self-erecting)
The name Pearl was given by Konishi Honten and Konishiroku Honten (the later Konica) to many models of rollfilm folders."Pearl" is written in roman script on most or all of these models. In Japanese, the line was and is called Pāru (i.e. the English word "Pearl" within Japanese phonology): the Japanese word for "pearl" is shinju (真珠), but this does not seem ever to have been applied to the camera. This article deals with 6×9 and larger folders; see also Pearl (4.5×6 folders). The original Pearl, released by Konishi Honten in 1909, was a copy of the No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak, but for tefuda (3¼×4¼ in.) format plates as well as 118 film. Most versions were called the Pearl Portable'This is an arbitrary translation of ''Pāru tesage anbako (パール手提暗函), which could also be rendered as Portable Pearl or Pearl Hand Camera. and have only a brilliant finder perched on the front of the lens. Various lenses and shutters were available for it; for example, the no. 3 Pearl had a Rapid Rectilinear lens and Simplex shutter, and the no. 4 Pearl had a Zeiss Protar lens and an Automatic shutter, or a IIB Tessar lens and Compound shutter. Meanwhile, the '''Special Pearl added a folding viewfinder, and had a Deltas f/6.8 or Velostigmat Series IV f/6.3 lens in tefuda format or a Velostigmat Series IV f/6.3 or f/7.5 lens for 4×5 in. format.Japanese Historical Camera, p. 6; Lewis, ed., History of the Japanese Camera, p. 33; Konika-Minoruta-ten, p. 5. The Pearl 2, released by Konishiroku Honten in 1923, is for 6×9cm pictures on 120 film, and was the first Japanese camera sold for roll film only. At first it was supplied with a lens and shutter from Wollensak; alternatives were available later.Japanese Historical Camera, p. 11; Konika-Minoruta-ten, pp. 5–6. An improved model, sold from 1930 (some sources say 1931), is made of metal rather than wood, provides for 4.5×6 as well as 6×9 exposures (and is the earliest Japanese camera to combine these two formats), and has a wire frame finder hinged on the lens assembly, with the eyepiece on the body itself. It has a Deltas or Trinar lens and a Gammax, Prontor or Ibsor shutter.Japanese Historical Camera, p. 15; Konika-Minoruta-ten, pp. 5–6; Lewis, ed., History of the Japanese Camera, p. 50. The Year-Eight Pearl'This is an arbitrary translation of ''hachinen-gata Pāru (8年型パール) named after year 8 of Shōwa, i.e. 1933. (April 1933) is a folder with a self-erecting lens: the bellows open and the lens board springs forward when the front is opened. It thus appears to be a copy of the Zeiss Ikonta of 1929; however, focusing moves the entire lens assembly, mounted on a helical, and not merely the frontmost element. There is a folding frame finder on the body and a brilliant finder on the shutter housing. The lens is an f/6.3 or f/4.5 10.5 cm Zion triplet (swiftly replaced by or renamed as Optor) by Asahi Kōgaku. There was the choice between two Konishiroku shutters, both with two blades and having a dial under the brilliant finder: an Apus shutter (copy of the German Vario; T, B, 25, 50, 100) or a ゼウス shutter (copy of the German Ibsor; T, B, 1–2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125).Hagiya, "Kokusan-hatsu no supuringu kamera," p. 40; Japanese Historical Camera, p. 18; Konika-Minoruta-ten, p. 6; Tanaka, p. 58. In November 1936 was announced an additional option: a Pearl with an f/4.5 11.5 cm Hexar lens, the '''Pearl with rangefinder or Year-Eleven Pearl'In Japanese, the camera is referred to as ''kyorikei-tsuki Pāru (距離計つきパール); or jūichi-nen-gata Pāru (11年型パール). (1936) moves the folding frame finder to the far left (as seen by the photographer), above the hinge, thereby making space for a separate, horizontal rangefinder, attached via an accessory shoe. The "Sakura" brand rangefinder that was supplied is a device of high quality, with a baselength of 60mm. There was the same choice of Optor lenses, and the choice of an Apus or a Durax shutter. Later there would be a combination of Hexar f/4.5 lens and Durax shutter.Hagiya, pp. 42–3; Tanaka, p. 58. The '''Deluxe Pearl came out in November of the following year. It substituted for the centre, glassless finder of the Year Eight Pearl a folding albada finder. (It is unclear if there was also a version with an offset finder and accessory shoe.) There was a choice among Hexar lens with either Compur Rapid (B, 1–400) or Durax shutter, and f/4.5 Simlar lens (from Tōkyō Kōgaku) and Seiko Leo shutter (B, 1–250).Tanaka, pp. 58–9. The Pearl does not seem to have been developed further. Stocks of parts were still assembled into whole cameras after the war, when its lack of a body shutter would have made it seem old-fashioned. Its 1946 retail price was fixed at ¥2320, less than a Semi Pearl B (¥3050) but as much as an Olympus Six.Japanese Historical Camera, p. 60. Notes Sources and further reading With English text: * The Japanese Historical Camera. 2nd ed. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2004. (In both English and Japanese.) * Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: International Museum of Photography, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-16-3 (hard) ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper) In Japanese only: * Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Kokusan-hatsu no supuringu kamera de Hekisā renzu ga tōchaku sareta '11nen Pāru'" (国産初のスプリングカメラでヘキサーレンズが装着された「11年型パール」, The Hexar-lens-equipped first Japanese spring camera: the Year-Eleven Pearl). Kamera rebyū: Kurashikku kamera senka (カメラレビュー・クラシックカメラ専科), no. 76 (summer 2005), pp. 40–43. * Inoue Yasuo (井上康夫). "Koten meigyoku o sagasō: Hachinen-gata Pāru, Oputā 10.5cm f/4.5" (古典名玉を探そう: 8年型パール・オプター10.5cmF4.5, Let's hunt out famous old lenses: The Year-Eight Pearl and Optor 10.5cm f/4.5). Shashin Kōgyō, March 2005. * Konika-Minoruta-ten (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005. *''Konishiroku Kamera no Rekishi'' (小西六カメラの歴史, History of Konishiroku cameras), vol. 10 (Autumn 1985 issue) of Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Nihon no supuringu-kamera: Konishiroku" (日本のスプリングカメラ Konishiroku, The spring cameras of Japan: Konishiroku). Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras, Autumn 1986 (special issue on Supuringu Kamera spring cameras), 58–61. Links In Japanese: * Pages of the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website: ** Pearl cameras ** Pearl advertisement (1909) ** Special Pearl advertisement ** "Pearl Kodak" advertisement ** Sakura rangefinder documentation and picture ** Some early lenses and the Konishiroku cameras to which they were fitted ** Cameras of the thirties, and other Konishiroku information * Pearl Portable, Pearl 2, Improved Pearl 2 and Year-Eight Pearl in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology Category: 6x9 viewfinder folding Category: Japanese viewfinder folding Category: Konica Category: P